Automatic strapping and sealing machine



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BY W/M/ )4 I NOV. 2, 1965 KQEHLER 3,215,064

AUTOMATIC STRAPPING AND SEALING MACHINE Filed May 25. 1964 17Sheets-Sheet 17 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent ration of Illinois Filed May 25, 1964, Ser. No.376,032 25 Claims. (Cl. 1004) The present invention relates to anautomatic strapping and sealing machine for applying strap around anobject to be bound and securing the ends of the strap with a seal or thelike. More specifically, the invention relates to a strapping machinefor feeding out a predetermined length of strap around an object to bebound, holding the free end of the strap, drawing the strap closelyaround the object and tensioning the strap thereon, applying a seal tooverlapped portions of the strap to secure the same together, andcutting the strap so as to free the bound object from the strap supply.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the strap is suppliedfrom a reel which map be mounted on the floor adjacent the strappingmachine, and the seals are constructed in the form of a coil ofintegrally connected seals which are supplied to the strapping machinefrom a reel supported on a nearby frame or the like. The machinedescribed herein may be termed semi-automatic since a manual operationis required to properly position the free end of the strap prior to thetensioning of the strap and the application of the seal, but it will beunderstood that the various features of the present invention areapplicable as well to fully automatic machines where the positioning ofthe free end of the strap is wholly automatic.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedautomatic strapping machine which operates more efiiciently and providesgreater reliability and durability than the machines heretofore known.

Another object of the invention is to provide a strapping machine whichis air-operated and which embodies a novel air control system forregulating the timing and automatic sequential operation of the variouscomponents of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means includinga bleed-off or flow control valve for controlling the amount of strapwhich is fed out by the machine at the beginning of a strappingoperation.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an improvedmechanism for tensioning the strap about an object to be bound, suchmechanism being adapted to reciprocate a plurality of times so as toprovide a plurality of operative tensioning strokes where such isnecessary to produce the desired tension in the strap.

Still another object is to provide in an automatic strapping machineimproved release mechanism for releasing seal feeding means and sealindexing means when it is desired to freely feed a supply of seals intothe machine from a supply reel or the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved strap feedingmeans for advancing the strap through the strapping machine, suchfeeding means including back-up means which is spaced from the operativeportion of the feeding member when there is no strap therebetween.

A still further object is to provide means for automaticallystraightening the strap which is fed through the strapping machine sothat it will more readily follow guide means or the like when the strapis fed out of the machine for application about an object to be bound.

Another of the objects of the present invention is to provide animproved seal feeding mechanism for feeding a seal into an operativeposition to be cut from the supply coil and applied to the strap.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an improved form ofcrimper jaw for effecting increased con trol over a seal which is heldtherein both prior to and during the crimping of the seal on overlappedportions of the strap.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved holding meansfor holding the free end of the strap in a desired position duringoperation of the strapping machine.

Another one of the objects is to provide improved stop means againstwhich the free end of the strap is fed to position the latter for asealing operation.

Still another object is to provide mechanism for automatically bendingthe cut end of the strap inwardly after the strap on the object beingbound is cut from the strap supply, thereby to avoid the hazardotherwise present due to sharp projecting edges or the like.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following description thereof.

Now in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner ofutilizing and practicing my invention, I shall describe, in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, certain preferred embodiments of myinvention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a strapping machine constructedin accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the cutting of aseal from a continuous coil of connected seals, and showing a seal inposition to be crimped about overlapped portions of strap;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing a seal crimped on overlying strapends to firmly secure the same together;

FIGURE 4 is a detail top plan view of an upper cover plate through whichrollers project to support a package or object to be bound;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the strapping machine of FIGURE1 with the upper strap guide structure being broken away;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view looking substantially in thedirection of the arrows 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line77 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line88 of FIGURE 7 showing in particular a length of strap and a length ofconnected seals being fed into the strapping machine;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, partly broken away,taken substantially along the line 8-8 of FIGURE 7, showing the feedwheel and back-up roller mechanism for driving the strap, and alsoshowing the high tension gripper assembly for tensioning the strap;

FIGURE 9a is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along theline 9a-9a of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view takensubstantially along the line 8-8 of FIGURE 7 showing the high tensiongripper assembly in an alternate position relative to FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 10a is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 10a10a of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 1l11 of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 1212 of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 13 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the strappingmachine of FIGURE 1 with certain components removed for purposes ofillustration;

FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 1414 of FIGURE 13 FIGURE 16 is a view similar to FIGURE14, takenv along the line 16-16 of FIGURE 13, showing the sealingmechanism and seal feed means in alternate positions, and also showingmanual release means for releasing both the seal feed means and sealindexing means;

FIGURE 17 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view of the sealingmechanism taken substantially along the line 17-17 of FIGURE 16;

FIGURE 18 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along theline 13]l8 of FIGURE 16;

FIGURE 19 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 19-19 of FIGURE 14 showing the sealing mechanism in alowered position prior to the carrying out of a sealing operation;

FIGURE 20 is a substantially enlarged fragmentary vertical sectionalview taken substantially along the line 19-19 of FIGURE 14 showing thecrimper jaws closed about a seal for holding the same during andsubsequent to the cutting of the seal from the supply strip of connectedseals;

FIGURE 21 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along theline 2121 of FIGURE 20;

FIGURE 22 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to FIGURE 19showing the sealing mechanism in its upper position at the completion ofthe crimping operation;

FIGURE 23 is a substantially enlarged fragmentary vertical sectionalview of a portion of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 22, the crimping jawsand related structure again being shown at the completion of a crimpingoperation;

FIGURE 24 is a view similar to FIGURE 23 showing a clevis or piston rodhead and a knife of the sealing mechanism moved still further upwardlyto press upwardly on a cut end of the strap, the crimper jaws beingshown opened slightly due to such further upward movement of the clevis;

FIGURE 25 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 2525 of FIGURE 24 showing the manner in which the knifepresses upwardly on the cut end of the strap at the completion of theupward stroke of the clevis and knife; and

FIGURE 26 is a schematic diagram of the air control circuit for the airoperated strapping machine of the present invention.

The strapping machine of the present invention is an improvement of anearlier form of apparatus disclosed in my U.S. Patent 3,066,599, whichpatent is assigned to the 'assignee of the present invention. Strap isfed to the machine from a reel which may be mounted on the floor, apredetermined amount of the strap being fed out of the machine andsubstantially around an object to be bound at the beginning of astrapping operation. In accordance with the embodiment described herein,the free end of the strap is then manually fed under the package orobject and against a stop to complete a closed loop with the free end ofthe strap disposed in overlying relation to the strap coming from themachine, whereby after drawing the strap tight and applying tensionthereto, the strapping operation may be completed by applying a seal tothe overlapped strap portions and then cutting the strap to separate theclosed loop on the bound object from the strap supply. As stated earlierherein, the seals are fed to the machine from a continuous strip or reelof integrally connected seals.

FIGURE 2 shows a strip 30 of connected seals 32 each having a baseportion 34 and a pair of side walls 36 which extend upwardly andslightly outwardly, the base portions 34 being integrally connected byconnecting portions 38 which are adapted to be cut to separate one sealfrom the supply strip 30 during a strapping operation. It will be seenthat in the continuous strip 30 of seals 32 there are slots 40 formedbetween the side walls 36 of each adjacent seal, which slots extendpartially into the base portions 34, and as will be seen more clearlyhereinafter such slots facilitate the feeding and indexing of the sealsas they are passed through the machine. During a sealing operation,means including a movable knife 580 are moved upwardly to sever one ofthe connecting portions 38 to separate one seal from the supply strip,and such seal is then carried upwardly as will be described hereinafterand positioned about overlapped portions of the strap S as shown inFIGURE 2. Thereafter, the end Walls 36 of the seal are bent down on thetop of the upper layer of strap S as shown in FIGURE 3, and the seal iscrimped to form the partially sheared or punched offset portions 44which prevent the joint from separating.

General structure FIGURE 1 shows a strapping machine in accordance withthe present invention including a frame 50, guide portions 52 and 54through which a supply of strap S is ded to the machine, guide portions56 and 58 through which a supply strip 30 of connected seals is suppliedto the machine, and a cover plate or table 60 through which rollersproject to support a package or object to be bound prior to a strappingoperation, a package to be strapped :being shown at P in the drawing.The strap supply S is fed through a high tension assembly indicatedgenerally at 62 and operated by a high tension cylinder 64, and thestrap is moved through the machine by strap feed means indicatedgenerally at 66.

Upon initiation of a strapping operation, the strap feed means 66function to feed a predetermined length of strap S out of the machine toa guide member 70 disposed above the table 60, whereby the guide 70causes the strap to pass over the top of the package P and substantiallyencircle the package. The operator then manually takes the free end ofthe strap S and inserts it back under the package and against stop meansindicated generally at 72, whereby the free end of the strap overliesthe strap being supplied from the machine. Sealing mechanism indicatedgenerally at 74 is disposed beneath the overlapped strap portions in thearea of the extreme free end of the strap S where a seal 32 is to beapplied, and such mechanism is operated by a sealing cylinder 76.

Strap feeding mechanism FIGURE 9 shows the strap S fed between guidemembers 52 and 54 and between a serrated drive roller 78 and a back-uproller 80, the drive roller being mounted on a drive shaft 82 and theback-up roller being carried on a pin 84-. Referring to FIGURE 9a, itwill be seen that that drive roller 78 comprises a serrated axiallyintermediate portion 86 and a pair of non-serrated cylindrical portions88 and 90 of reduced diameter disposed on either side thereof. Theback-up roller includes an axially intermediate portion 92 of reduceddiameter, and a pair of cylindrical portions 94 and 96 of greaterdiameter at either side thereof. The serrated drive roller 78 andback-up roller 80 are dimensioned so that when there is no strap Stherebetween the axially outer roller portions 88 and on the driveroller 7 8 will engage the axially out er portions 94 and 96 on theback-up roller 80 so as to maintain a clearance of approximately 0.005inch between the serrated portion 86 of the drive roller and the centralportion 92 of the back-up roller, whereby the serrated portion of thedrive roller is always maintained out of contact with the back-uproller. When strap is fed between the foregoing two rollers, the strapis thicker than the above-mentioned 0.005 inch clearance, so that theaxially outer portions on each of the two rollers will be maintainedspaced apart, and the portion 92 on the back-up roller will urge thestrap against the serrated portion 86 of the drive roller.

Referring again to FIGURE 9, the pivot pin 84 for the back-up roller 80is carried on the end of a lever 98 which is pivotally mounted on afixed pin 100 mounted on a frame portion 102. A compression spring 104acts upon an end 106 of the lever 98 to urge the lever 98 in a clockwisedirection thereby to yieldingly urge the backup roller 80 toward theserrated drive roller 78. An upwardly projecting adjustable screw 188 iscarried by the end 196 of the lever 98, and a release screw 110 (seeFIGURE 8) may be threaded downwardly to depress the screw 108 and pivotthe lever 98 in a counterclockwise direction to move the back-up roller3t) away from the serrated drive roller 78, as when a new reel of strapis being initially fed into the machine.

FIGURE 7 shows the serrated drive roller 78 mounted on the end of adrive shaft 112 and driven by an air-operated motor 114. The motor 114is reversible and is driven in a forward direction to feed out apredetermined length of strap S to be positioned around an object to bebound as shown in FIGURE 1. The motor 114 is driven in the reversedirection after the free end of the strap is held, so as to take out theslack and draw the strap closely around the object. FIGURE 5 is a topplan view which shows the motor 114, drive roller 78 and back-up roller80.

Seal feeding mechanism Referring to FIGURES 14-16, there is shown a sealfeed pawl lever 120 which is pivotally mounted on a fixed pivot pin 122for movement between a counterclockwise position where it is engagedagainst a rearward stop member 124 and a clockwise position where it isengaged against a forward stop member 126. A feed pawl 12.8 is pivotallymounted on a pin 130 at the upper end of the feed pawl lever, and thefeed pawl 128 is biased in a counterclockwise direction by a torsionspring 132. Referring to FIGURES l4 and 18, the feed pawl 128 isprovided with a pair of projecting portions 134 at its extreme upper endwhich extend into the spaces or slots 40 between each seal 32 in thecontinuous strip 31 of connected seals. A release lever 136 extends fromthe feed pawl 128, whereby when the release lever is manually raised,the pawl 12% will be rotated in a clockwise direction so as to withdrawthe projecting portions 134 from the slots between the seals, as when anew supply strip 30 of seals is being initially fed into the machine.

It will be understood from the foregoing that when the feed pawl lever120 is moved from the forward position of FIGURE 16 to the rearwardposition of FIGURE 14, the feed pawl 128 will be caused to rotate in aclockwise direction, and the upper ends of the projections 134 will ridealong the bottom 34 of the strip of seals until they reach the nextrearward pair of slots 40, whereupon the pawl will spring back to itsoperative counterclockwise position as shown in FIGURE 14. Accordingly,when the lever 1263 is next moved to the forward position of FIGURE 16,it will advance the strip 3t) of seals forwardly so as to position theleading seal 32 in the position shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 14preparatory to a sealing operation.

In order to actuate the seal feed pawl lever 120, there is provided atension spring 140 (see FIGURE 6) which has one end anchored to theframe of the machine and its other end secured to the lever 12% so as tobias the latter rearwardly or in a counterclockwise direction. A sealfeed control lever 142 is pivotally mounted on a pin 144 carried at thelower end of the lever 120. The control lever 142 is arcuate in itsconfiguration and is provided with an adjusting screw 146 which isthreaded through one end 148 of the lever 142 for operative engagementwith the lever 120 in order to actuate the latter forwardly. The otherend of the lever 142 comprises a generally flat surface 156 which isengaged by a roller 152 carried on the end of a seal feed cam 154. Theroller 152 is mounted on a pin 156, and the seal feed cam 154 ispivotally mounted on a fixed pin 158.

The upper end of the seal feed cam .154 is aligned with a vertical slot162 (see FIGURES 14, 15, 1'8 and 19) formed in a side plate 164, and inits normal position the upper end of the seal feed cam will projectthrough the slot 162 into the space between the side plate 164 and anopposite side plate member 166 as shown in FIGURE 14. 'It will beunderstood that when the cam 154 is thus positioned as shown in FIGURE14, the seal feed pawl lever 120 will be disposed in its rearwardposition to which it is biased by the tension spring 140. Disposedbetween the side plates 164 and 166 is a clevis or piston head member\168 which comprises a component of the sealing mechanism 74 to bedescribed more fully later herein, and the clevis 168 is movablevertically between the side plates between a lowered position as shownin FIGURE 14 and a raised position as shown in FIG- URE v16.

The olevis16'8 has a vertical rib 170 formed on one side thereof whichprojects into the slot 162 in the side plate 164 and thereby assists inguiding the clevis during its vertical movement. When the clevis 1168 isin its down position as in FIGURE 14, the seal feed cam 154 will projectinto the slot 162 in the manner previously described. However, when theclevis is raised, the vertical rib 170 thereon will engage the innerportion of the seal feed cam 154 and force it out of the slot 164 to theposition shown in FIGURE 16 where the upper end 16% of the seal feed camwill be engaged against the rib 170. When the seal feed cam 154 is thuspivoted in a counterclockwise direction, the roll-er 152 carried on thecam will engage against the surface 150 on the control lever 2142 so asto pivot the control lever in a clockwise direction about the pivot pin144, whereupon the adjusting screw 146 on the upper end of lever 142will be brought into engagement with seal feed pawl lever 120 so as tomove the latter to its forward position of FIGURE 16.

It will be understood from the foregoing that when the clevis 168 ismoved downwardly to its lowered position, the lever 120 will move backto dispose the projections 1134 in the next rearwardly positioned slots41 in the strip 31) of seals, and when the clevis is moved upwardly atthe beginning of a sealing operation the lever 12%) is actuatedforwardly to feed the leading seal 32 to the position shown in dottedlines in FIGURE 14. It will further be understood that the timing of themechanism is such that the leading seal 32 will be operativelypositioned the space between the side plates 164 and 166 before theknife 580 and the various other components of the sealing mechanism '74reach the seal, as will be explained more fully hereinafter. The amountby which the strip 30 of seals 32 is fed forwardly by the lever [1'20and pawl 128 can be adjusted by threading the adjusting screw 146 towardor away from the lever 1120. Thus, when the screw 145 is threaded towardlever 126, the operative stroke of the latter will be increased, therebyincreasing the distance by which the strip of seals is fed forwardly.The forward stop 1 26 is also adjustable and must of course bepositioned in relation to the stroke of the lever 120. The purpose ofthe stop 12b is to prevent the mo mentum of the lever 120 from carryingit past the position to which it is actuated by the control lever 142and pin 146.

FIGURE 16 shows an index pin lever 18% which is pivotally mounted on afixed pin V182 and which is biased in a counterclockwise direction by acompression spring 184. The lever carries a pair of index pins 186 eachhaving a projecting portion 188 on its upper end, and the projectingportions 118% extend into the spaces or slots 40 in the strip 39 ofconnected seals for accurately positioning the latter. When the strip 30of seals is fed forwardly by the pawl 128 and lever 120 as describedhereinabove, the projecting portions 188 on the index pins are urgeddownwardly out of the slots 40, the lever 180 thus being pivoted in aclockwise direction to the posi-

1. IN AN AIR-OPERATED STRAPPING MACHINE, IN COMBINATION, FEED MEANS FORFEEDING A PREDETERMINED LENGTH OF STRAP FROM SAID MACHINE TO BE APPLIEDTO AN OBJECT TO BE BOUND, AN AIR-OPERATED MOTOR FOR DRIVING SAID FEEDMEANS, A FIRST AIR CONDUIT FOR SUPPLYING AIR UNDER PRESSURE TO SAIDMOTOR FOR DRIVING THE SAME FORWARDLY TO EFFECT THE FEEDING OF STRAP FROMSAID MACHINE, FIRST NORMALLY CLOSED VALVE MEANS FOR OPENING AND CLOSINGSAID FIRST AIR CONDUIT, A SECOND AIR CONDUIT FOR SUPPLYING AIR TO SAIDFIRST VALVE MEANS TO MAINTAIN THE SAME IN OPEN POSITION, AND TIMINGMEANS INCLUDING SECOND BLEED-OFF VALVE MEANS IN SAID SECOND AIR CONDUITFOR CONTROLLING THE LENGTH OF TIME DURING WHICH AIR IS SUPPLIED TO SAIDFIRST VALVE MEANS THROUGH SAID SECOND AIR CONDUIT, WHEREBY AFTER APREDETERMINED